Elephant Poachers in Africa

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Elephant Poachers in Africa

Elephant poaching crisis in Africa is growing at a devastating rate, thus threatening the multiplying number of species with overt extinction in a lifetime. Research suggests that elephant population in Africa has declined since thousands of elephants are poached every year for their ivory tusks worth huge sums of illegal money (Thouless, p. 60).Ivory tusks are mainly used for medicinal purposes and fashions. The issue of elephant poaching ranks among the top wildlife crimes across the globe. Poaching is risky and highly profitable. There is an increasing demand of ivory tusks in developed countries. Due to the increasing demand for ivory, consumer prices in supply countries has also increased (Thouless, p. 60). In Africa, social and economic problems such as unemployment, poverty, insecurity, corruption, and population growth are widespread. High prices fire up the supply of ivory and bring about augmented elephant poaching.

The issue of elephant poaching is complex in Africa. Chronic poverty and lack of sustainable economic choices have been identified as the root causes of poaching. However, corrupt officials serving in national parks, government and military are extremely untouchable. African countries are fighting against elephant poaching, but one of the ultimate challenges to triumphing is corruption among government individuals (Poulsen, p. 134).   The widespread elephant poaching in Africa has been associated with inefficient law enforcement, corruption and lack of accountability.

Today, corrupt officials play the largest part in allowing criminals to traffic national parks and reserves (Poulsen, p. 134). Government officials have been accused of wildlife thefts since they openly trade elephant products out of Africa. In some countries such as Namibia, Tanzania, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Sudan, South Africa, DRC, and Uganda, the military could be instructed to use military resources to carry out wildlife crimes including elephant poaching. These individuals are safeguarded by military power and corrupt government officials secretly support them (Poulsen, p. 134). They abuse their titles to dip into the treasure of their country’s natural resources for their own selfish gain. Therefore, the government is ultimately responsible for the devastation of the country’s wildlife population.

 In addition to money, favors may be traded, with criminals paying off police, customs officials and judges to keep their profitable business moving. Conservation groups, politicians, and media groups have implicated government officials in poaching crimes. Many officials employed to protect wildlife have been blamed for remaining complicit in elephant poaching. They normally turn a blind eye to criminal activities once they are paid huge sums of money. Pointing figures at the government officials have both social and political implications irrespective of whether the claims are true or false. It lessens native’s trust in their government. Internationally, government credibility has been eroded as a result of corruption and poor performance.

In developed countries such as the United States, China ivory is a symbol of wealth and is used for medicinal purposes. Elephant poaching activities escalate in Africa due to the support locals give to poachers. The returns or rewards gained from illegal poaching trade significantly surpass legal economic occupations, thus making it a coping strategy for the poor local communities (Thouless, p. 60). Local communities poached to gain supplementary income. However, security costs and threats among these communities outweigh the benefits of ivory trade. Therefore, anti-poaching programs and conservations activists should broaden their approach by expanding their strategies to address all types of poverty

Historical overview of elephant poaching calls for immediate action. Reports indicate that African elephants will be extinct in the next ten years. In Africa, over 30,000 are killed for ivory tusks every year and only 300,000 elephant remains (Wittemyer, p. 13117). This is a serious problem for the African countries since they depend on tourism trade to generate income which leads to economic growth. Tourists travel the world mainly to see wildlife. If poaching continues, African countries will lose approximately ten percent of their GDP. Therefore, the entire ivory trade business steals from everyone.

Elephant poaching is an illegal activity and has adverse effects on the economy, security and ecological aspects (Wittemyer, p. 13117). Some of the impacts of elephant poaching include; increased global insecurity, increased political conflicts, destruction of ecological habitats, loss of government credibility, increased vulnerability of extinction of wildlife species, the decline in wildlife species, reduced government avenues, and reduced local support in the preservation of wildlife as a result of reduced benefits. Thus, there is a need for reversing the current trend of wildlife crime in Africa.